Celtic Princess (Celtic Thunder)
by Norla
Summary: Neil and Ryan's dreams of their own family finally come true.


Hi! It's Norla again. Here is the second story I mentioned, the one that has not been letting me rest. As I've been planning this one, featuring Ryan and Neil, a Colm and Emmet story has been bothering me a little as well. There may be a third story in the works. It has to develop a bit before I can write it down completely. Once again, I am choosing to keep some of the past members current, Damian and Emmet specifically. George, rest his soul, will be mentioned and will factor into the story in an important way, and I will be mentioning Paul. I will be pairing Neil and Ryan, Keith and Damian as well as the little Celtic Comet cuties. I am not proficient at writing slash, so please forgive me, and I will not be writing anything graphic. Others are more talented at this than I.

They (Celtic Thunder) are not mine, but I will play with them gently and return them unharmed.

Celtic Princess

Ryan POV

"I don' think I can do this again," Neil said, as we lay in our bed that night after the concert, and the phone call. "And I know that ye can't do it again."

"Ok, we didn't come off soundin' too good in those statements," I said, trying to lighten his mood, but knowing that I would fail dismally. Mostly because I knew he was right.

I leaned up on my elbow and looked at the profile of my husband. He was lying on his back, one hand cradling the back of his head, the other resting on his chest. His normally gentle, faintly amused eyes were staring fixedly up at the ceiling. A small smile flitted across his lips, before they relaxed into a more neutral position.

"We have to give Brynn an answer," he said very quietly.

I nodded, my head still propped up on my hand. I moved minutely closer to Neil and he removed his hand from his chest and let me in to let me rest my head on the same spot, before he wrapped his arm around my shoulder, securing me to him with a sigh.

People always think that I'm the strong one in the relationship. I'm not really sure why. Perhaps it is the 'bad guy' persona that I have on stage, but even our Celtic Thunder brothers, who know us better than anyone, will say this too. In reality Neil has always been the one with the strength. Any of the big decisions in our relationship have been his. He is the one that made the first move. It was not long after we finished our first album that he approached me and asked me to accompany him for drinks. I hesitantly accepted, and the rest, as they say is history.

After we had become known as a solid couple amongst our brothers if not yet publically, Neil proposed the idea of creating what we now call Bryne and Kelly. It was our Acoustic by Candlelight tour and show and our Acoustically Irish CD. Again I followed him without question into this venture, where we found great success.

We had so much success that I had at one point suggested that we leave Celtic Thunder and pursue the musical partnership we had created. Neil had smiled his gentle, knowing smile and asked me if I missed my past career as an accountant that much. After a short argument, I realized that he was correct when he said that Celtic Thunder was a springboard for some of our family specifically Paul. He had experienced success before CT, and the fame that he, all of us, had garnered from the early years of our touring in the States only helped to promote his solo career. For others, like us, we still needed the big group, that the touring in the off season or as a piggyback on our CT circuit was still necessary. The time may come when we would be able to live off of our musical partnership and solo careers but, that time was not upon us yet.

Neil had also been the one who had dropped to his knee one night, during a walk in our favourite woods in Ireland, and asked me to marry him. He caught me completely off guard, and I dropped the leash of my precious dog. The wee dog took advantage of the sudden freedom and took himself on an adventure. It was two days, and countless hours of tears, before my pup and I were reunited. Neil had not slept in the entire time as he looked for my 'baby'. I accepted his proposal, and with the blessing of both sets of parents and our CT brothers, we exchanged vows in a small private ceremony.

When I had brought up my desire to have a family of our own, Neil moved heaven and earth to find an adoption agency who accepted us as potential parents. The same gender parenting wasn't the obstacle that I had anticipated it to be. It was our job. We were not typical. We were away for months at a time, and while it was ok to drop our pets off at my parents for tours, it would be different with children. Once accepted we understood that the wait could be long and difficult. We just, at the time, didn't know just how long or how painful it really would be.

We got the first call one year to the day that we had been accepted by the agency. Two very young parents to be had chosen our portfolio. He was in the military and was often was away, and she was studying to become a doctor. They both knew that they wouldn't be able to care for a child in the way it deserved while they pursued their dreams. It was to be a semi open adoption, where we would send pictures and meet with them once or twice a year so they could watch their child grow. Naturally Neil and I jumped at this and started planning for our tiny son. We went to all the prenatal appointments and the ultrasounds. Money was exchanged for legal fees and medical procedures, vitamins and anything else that the young couple needed. We decorated the nursery in our apartment, with a cute Noah's Ark theme and were completely ready for his arrival. We got the call to come to the hospital on January 6th. After 29 hours of waiting, we were informed that our boy had been born. He was a healthy 7 lb 6 oz cherub with a shock of dark hair. After spending a few hours with him, and his birth parents, we went home, planning to return the next morning to take him home. We had chosen the name Declan James Kelly and were anxious to take our boy to meet his grandparents and his CT uncles. Literally moments before we left for the hospital we got the most devastating phone call we could imagine. Declan's parents, his birth parents, had chosen to not go through with the adoption. They had fallen in love with the baby and were determined to make their lives with him work.

I was inconsolable. It was so devastating. This baby had been the primary focus of my world for the past six months. I had arranged to take a leave so I could stay home with Declan until he was nearly a year, and then Neil was going to take leave for a couple months. Neil handled all aspects of the legal and financial ends as well as any other part that I still don't have a clue about. If it wasn't for Neil's unyielding strength, I don't know what would have happened. He pulled us both out of the emotional quicksand that threatened to swallow us, me.

We threw ourselves into our work. We toured, we put out a number of very successful songs. Most importantly we had our brothers and their antics to keep us amused. Keith and Damian were our primary source of entertainment. They had both just discovered each other. Watching them navigate the rapids of their new relationship and grow closer was exactly what we needed.

The second call came about 15 months after the first. Again we let the excitement consume us. This time it was a single mother who had no desire to parent. She knew of us from CT, which turned out to be the mistake. She made our lives, difficult, to say the least. "Freakin' 'ell!" is the term that Neil still uses to this day. We eventually had enough of the verbal, financial and psychological abuse and pulled ourselves from the situation.

Again, the devastation washed over us. We tried to let work console us again and tried to find comfort with our brothers. Unfortunately this time, we were all not in good places. Damian had just gone to the States to compete in 'The Glee Project', leaving Keith sullen and sulky. The new kid, Emmet, was nervous and shy, and even George seemed more withdrawn than usual. It was a period of time that was just not fun. It was the first time I seriously thought of finding a new career path. Neil's strength and positive outlook, even through the sadness, was infectious and we again rose like phoenixes.

The third call. That is supposed to be the time that is charmed, third time lucky. Hey, we're Irish after all. It seemed to be blessed. This time when we got the call we kept it to ourselves. Two teenagers had found themselves in a situation. We were chosen and we hesitantly accepted. We waited and watched in anticipation as the date of our second son's birth drew near. The due date came and passed. Baby Kieran was 10 days overdue when he was delivered by an emergency C-section. When the mother's water had been broken as part of the induction process, they discovered evidence of meconium. Kieran had inhaled a quantity of the substance. The doctors fought to rid his little lungs of it. They put him on antibiotics, and we waited. It looked good for a few hours and then the little boy became septic. His wee body couldn't fight the infection. He passed quietly, cuddled protectively into Neil's arms, while being told how much we loved him.

I felt the tears slide down my cheeks and onto my husband's white t-shirt.

"Sleep luv," he whispered to me, tightening his grip slightly.

"Tryin'," I said softly then choked on my tears. I sat up quickly to cough, and Neil also reacted, checking to be sure I was ok.

"Kay," he said when I had recovered. "We're not gonna be sleepin' until we decide anyway."

"I want a baby," I said softly running my hands through my hair and looking into the warm golden brown pools of Neil's eyes. "But yer right. I can't do this again. I can't take another loss." I looked down at my hands and watched as two tears splashed down onto them.

"I know, "Neil said, tipping my chin so that my eyes met his. "I can't watch ye go through that again. I can't keep bein' strong for myself each time our family is taken from us." He took a deep breath and held it for a second before he continued. "But, luv, I'm willin' to try one last time. Something about this one feels right. I can't explain it."

I nodded as more tears ran down my face. If he was strong enough, then I could be to. I suddenly felt as if a giant weight had been lifted, and in its wake left me so tired I couldn't keep my eyes open.

"I'll call Brynn tomorrow," I said as I pushed Neil back down onto the mattress and cuddled close to him, my head, once again, on his chest.

Neil POV

There was just somethin' about the last call that we got. When I talked te Brynn, I could tell that she was hesitatin'. We had taken our names off the adoption list only a few months before. I listened as she tol' me about the young mother who had looked through hundreds of portfolios while sittin' on Brynn's couch in her office. Not one was right. Brynn called te ask us if she could show ours. Ryan was off on a jog. I knew he would say no, but somethin' seemed to possess me and before I knew it I had agreed.

I was quite correct about Ryan's reaction, when I confessed to him upon the conclusion of his run. He was very upset. When we didn't hear anything, we assumed that we had not met the final cut either. Our life continued to be a whirlwind of activity. We had a very successful North American tour of our Acoustic by Candlelight show. When we got back to Ireland, there was a message from Brynn on the phone. Ryan listened to it, shook his head sadly at me then erased the message.

I released the breath that I didn't know I'd been holdin'. I felt a twinge of sadness, but convinced meself that I knew it was a long shot. Ryan and I disassembled the nursery that we had so lovingly decorated years ago and gave all the furniture to a ladies shelter.

Once the room had been cleared, we both seemed to get better. We moved from our spacious apartment to a smaller one in a trendy area and were quite happy for a little over a year. The spark in Ryan's eyes came back as did his quirky personality. We also had a new addition to the group.

A young Colm Keegan came in like a breath of fresh air. We were all drawn to the newcomer. His enthusiasm was electric. We weren't the only ones that felt that way. Ryan brought to my attention that our baby, Emmet, seemed to be overly taken with the newbie. We laughed and watched and tried to play matchmaker, and found ourselves feeling like proud parents when the boys hit it off.

While we enjoyed watching the youngsters, we had worries as well. Keith, one of our best friends and the king of practical jokers, had become reserved, very focused and unnaturally quiet. We knew he was missing Damo desperately. I tried to talk to him on numerous occasions, the only time he would open up, even a crack was when he and I were alone in the gym working out. He was thinking about his future. Damian had become very successful in the States, first with his year on Glee, and his touring with Ethan. Keith was certain that Damo was gone from his life and that he needed to 'grow up' and focus on his career. It was hard for me to watch Keith with this struggle and Ryan was almost as much of a mess over it as Keith was. Then our world blew apart.

March 12, 2014. It makes me feel ill just thinking about that date. We got a life changing call. Our fearless leader, our guide, our George was gone. Taken by a massive heart attack in his sleep, thankfully, hopefully not feeling any pain. The last conversation we'd had was about his 'Harry Potter' date with Sarah, his daughter. He had been looking so forward to it; even though he had seen the movies with her so many times he could recite them. It was the opportunity to spend Daddy/Daughter time with her, something he loved to do. Something I longed to do. George's death stunned us all, Damian wanted to come home, but for some reason stayed in the States. Young Emmet, who had just announced that he was leaving Celtic Thunder, pulled back into the midst of us. Keith, was away at the time, came home briefly for the funeral, and then just as quickly returned to America. Our world was completely upside down.

It took a few months before we could all feel like we were breathing again. We were continuing with our planned Australian Mythology tour, and Emmet was staying with us to pay homage to George. Sharon and Phil had put out an advertisement for a new member of our group. Another Emmett had already been hired, and we were looking forward to meeting him, even if it meant saying goodbye to Emmet. Then the best surprise of all happened. We were all at a rehearsal, when Sharon told us we would be meeting the newest member of our group. Thinking we were waiting for Emmett, we were standing around teasing Keith. Damian had arrived home the day before, having contacted Keith during our rehearsal. Keith, who was acting like himself for the first time in nearly a year, had his old mischievous grin on his face. We were giving him a bad time. Ok, I was giving him a bad time, as he hadn't brought Damo along with him for us to see. Sharon called for our attention to introduce our new brother, stepping aside to reveal a grown up version of our little Damian. Both Ryan and I cried like babies. It felt like we had come full circle. Having Damo back in Celtic Thunder was exactly the moral boost that we all needed, especially Keith.

Life was good as we toured Australia both as CT and as Byrne and Kelly. We got home in early summer, and started to prepare for a planned tour of Canada and the US. That was when the phone rang again.

Brynn called late that evening and over speakerphone informed us that a couple had chosen us. Apparently the last mother, who had declined our portfolio over a year ago, had remembered us and recommended it when her friend was in need. The wee baby girl had been born the evening before, and the birth mother had asked if Brynn could get in touch with us to see if we were interested. Baby was healthy, a tiny little mite at just under 7 pounds.

With barely a glance at each other we accepted. We had nothing. We had given everything away. We had no diapers, no food, and no place for our daughter to sleep, not even a car seat. With the prospect of a sleepless night ahead of us Ryan and I made the decision to go meet our daughter right away. We hurried to the garage to commence the three hour drive necessary to meet our baby.

Ryan (POV)

She was the most gorgeous creature that I'd ever seen in my life. Wrinkled, red faced, completely bald and so very tiny. I held out my arms and felt an electric jolt go down them as the tiny weight was transferred from the nurse to me. I felt Neil's arms go around me and his chin rest on my shoulder. He touched one of the baby's tiny hands and she opened her fist to grab his finger. I knew he was smitten as well. I offered to let him hold her, but he declined. Saying he was happy just watching me hold her for a bit.

"What's her name?" the nurse asked smiling at us.

"Not until the papers are signed and she's officially, really ours." I said, with tears in my voice. I snuggled the wee bundle up closer to my chest and let my tears of happiness run freely down my face.

"Ok, I'll take 'er now," Neil laughed and said in a tone that I hadn't heard in a very long time and didn't realize how much I'd missed. "I don' want ye te drown 'er with yer tears!"

I passed the baby over to her other Daddy and then completely understood, why Neil had been content to watch me hold her. I fell in love with him, just a little bit more, when I saw how carefully he cradled the newborn and whispered loving words into her tiny shell shaped ears.

"Georgia," I said to my husband when the nurse had left the room for a few minutes to get the adoption facilitator.

"Absolutely," he agreed, looking up at me with his amazing smile.

I felt a rush of love and warmth wash over me. I could almost feel George watching and nodding his approval.

"Only," Neil hesitated, "can we spell it with a J?"

"Why?" I asked. I was perfectly fine with letting him spell her name any way he wanted, but I was a bit curious.

"I just like the way it looks when it is spelled Jorja." Neil said his cheeks turning a light shade of red.

"Me too," I said kissing his cheek, and then me wee daughter's soft head. "What's her middle name?"

"Ashling," was the answer without any hesitation. It was a name that we had chosen years earlier.

"Are we going with Byrne-Kelly or Kelly-Byrne?" Neil asked a few minutes later as we were filling out the paperwork.

"I'm fine with just Byrne," I said touching his hand gently and smiling at his expression.

"Well, I'm fine with just Kelly," he laughed, "So that's not getting us anywhere."

The nurse came up with a compromise, we both liked. The paperwork was filed, and then we went to a quiet room in the hospital for a few hours sleep. Neil cat napped while I lay on the bed wide awake, my head spinning trying to figure out what all had happened.

By early afternoon a car seat had been purchased and the fire department had secured it into the car. Then the three of us were on our way home to find out what normal now was.

We stopped many times on the trip home to feed, change or just check on Jorja. We had plenty of time to talk and plan while on the road.

"What's yer thought on 'er God parents?" Neil asked as he checked the baby in the rear view mirror.

"Yer sister and 'er family?" I suggested. "They would take 'er wouldn't they?"

"In a second," Neil agreed, "But I was wonderin' if maybe Keith and Damo would consider it."

I felt tears well up in my throat and spill down my cheeks.

"Is that a yes?" Neil asked with a laugh.

I couldn't speak. I just nodded and reached out to take his hand.

Neil (POV)

At the next pit stop, this one for Ryan to use the washroom, I sat and stared at the tiny baby feeling love like I had never known before. I also knew that we were doing the right thing by asking Keith and Damian to be Jorja's god parents. I placed a quick call, and asked Damian to take Keith to our place and wait with him there. He agreed, with a questioning tone in his voice.

"Just the two of ye," I stressed. "Nobody else."

The last portion of the trip was mercifully short, and before long we were turning into the parking garage under our building. I unhooked the car seat from the tangle of seatbelts and handed it over to Ryan. I already loved watching him with the baby. The way his eyes lit up when he looked at her and the softness of his gaze made me feel warm and comfortable.

We rode the elevator in silence and then I walked a couple steps ahead of the rest of my wee family to open the door to our unit.

"Hey," Damo greeted me when I pushed the door open, holding it ajar for my husband and our daughter.

"Hey," I returned and felt a smile nearly split my face. "Got someone fer ye to meet."

Ryan stepped in right behind me, and caught Damian's eyes, blushed slightly and then put Jorja, car seat and all, down on the coffee table.

"Plannin' a picnic?" Keith asked as he pushed past Damo to get to the table.

I watched as his expression softened immediately and quickly unhooked the straps that secured the baby to her seat and carefully lifted the wee girl into his arms cuddling her close as he sat on the sofa.

"Wow," Damo said "Ye know that's a baby right?"

"Baby?" Ryan laughed, "Darn it, Neil! We picked up the wrong crate. It was supposed to be a puppy."

I hadn't heard that laugh in a long time and it drew a long dramatic sigh, eye roll and a headshake from me. I turned my attention back to Keith. He was in his own little world as he stared at the wee one, as if memorizing her.

"Well?" I asked him softly as I sat next to him and gently stroked the dark fuzz on the top of Jorja's head.

"Ye know that ye have ta ask befer' ye take one of these right?" he asked. "Why din't ye tell me?"

"We only found out last night," I explained.

"Still," Keith said sounding a little hurt. "Damo and I could have been here getting things ready for ye. Ye gave everythin' away befer ye moved. We should have…"

"I'm sorry," I said. "We should have let you know, but we were so excited to go meet Miss Jorja here."

"Jorja," Damian said as a cloud flitted quickly over his face. "He'd love that."

"No, he wouldn'ta," Keith said shifting the baby. "He'd be wonderin' what ye two were smokin' to give 'er that name. It's a perfect name by the way. What's the rest?"

"Jorja Kelly Ashling Byrne," Ryan said proudly as he slipped his hand into mine and squeezed it firmly.

Both Damian and Keith nodded their approval.

"My turn," Damian said reaching into Keith's arms and extracting the baby before his boyfriend could protest. He tucked her firmly into the crook of his arm and looked down at the little face."I've got the perfect boyfriend fer ye little princess."

"No, ye don't," I reacted. "She's not datin' anyone yet,"

"I'll just do the preliminary work then," Damian smiled his eyes twinkling. "Me sister Gemma's little man Noah would be perfect for 'er! It would also put 'er firmly inta me family te."

I looked over at Ryan and grinned. "Y'know, Damo, I'm glad ye brought that topic up."

"We were wonderin'," I started and looked at Ryan who nodded encouragingly. "We were wonderin' if ye two would be Jorja's God parents."

We were met with four stunned blue eyes staring at us and silence in the room.

"Ye," Keith tried to speak but seemed to get stuck for words.

"Want us?" Damian finished, as if he didn't believe what I said.

"Only the two of ye," Ryan assured them.

"But, ye both have family," Keith had found his voice again. "Neil, yer sister, Ry, yer…"

"Nobody as close as the two of you," I said. "You don't have to, but you were our first thought and our first choice."

Keith and Damian stood looking at each other for a minute, having a silent conversation.

"Yes," they answered in tandem making both Ryan and meself laugh. "We'd be honoured."

"God help ye, baby girl," Damian said as he handed my daughter to me.

I held her close and smelled the sweet baby sent that she had. I blocked out anything else that was being said as I savored the moment with Jorja. I'm not sure how much longer Damian and Keith stayed. All I knew was that I felt complete. The clouds had parted, and the sun shone down on me little family. Tomorrow we would take our child to meet her other uncles, where she would take her position in the group as our little Celtic Princess.

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Hope it is ok, constructive criticism is welcomed. Every mistake that is corrected means that I'm learning. Take care!

Norla.


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